The United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of West Virginia, Texas, and several other states that sued in an attempt to limit the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Texas has several power plants with large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.
The court voted 6 to 3 that Congress had not provided the EPA with the ability to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants as part of the Clean Air Act. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases contribute to global warming.
"So this is a big setback for people who care a lot about our environment and believe the science that we have that we need to reduce our carbon pollution as soon as possible," said Lennis Barlow with Environment Texas.
Environment Texas Research and Policy Center and Texas PIRG Education Fund worked together to identify one hundred power plants in the U.S. that generate the most greenhouse gases.
"Texas has eight in the top 100 and three in the top 10," Barlow said. "There is technology that could make them cleaner and could do wonders for the air quality of the surrounding communities, but with this ruling it's going to be a lot harder to move them away from the carbon-intensive energy sources that they're based on."
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is praising the Supreme Court's decision. He issued a written statement that "today’s landmark victory against an out-of-control administration is also a big win for Americans who worry about skyrocketing energy costs due to expensive federal regulations that threaten our energy industry."
A conservative group based in Austin also celebrated the ruling.
"The demise of the Clean Power Plan not only means that the energy grid will remain reliable for the foreseeable future," said Ted Hadzi-Antich, Senior Attorney at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, "but also that federal government agencies will think twice before taking regulatory actions that are not specifically authorized by legislation."
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